New At The Movies

(May 12, 2006)

“Poseidon”

Starring: Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell, Richard Dreyfuss, Emmy Rossum, Andre Braugher, Mike Vogel, Mia Maestro, Freddy Rodriguez, Kevin Dillon, Jacinda Barrett, Fergie, JimmyBennett

It’s New Year’s Eve and festivities have begun aboard the luxury cruise ship Poseidon, which is at sea in the North Atlantic — that is, until the First Officer senses that something is wrong. Scanning the horizon, he sees a rogue wave; a monstrous wall of water over 100 feet high, bearing down on them with tremendous speed. The First Officer tries to steer the ship away to avoid a maximum impact but it’s too late. The wave strikes with colossal force, pitching the ship heavily to port before rolling it completely upside down. One man, professional gambler Dylan Johns, prefers to test the odds alone. Ignoring orders, he prepares to exit the ballroom and find his own way to safety but is collared by eight-year-old Conor, who asks that Dylan take him and his mother Maggie along. Fast behind them is Robert Ramsey, anxious to search for his daughter Jennifer and her fiance, Christian. Wary of alliances, Dylan reluctantly leads the small band of survivors upward through the bowels of the ship. Those who choose to join them rather than wait below, include a shy stowaway, a suicidal man who re-discovers his will to live and a young waiter with knowledge of the ship’s layout. Determined to fight their way to the surface, they must forge a path together through layers of wreckage as the ship continues to sink. Bonds form quickly in this journey of vertical climbs, dead ends and sheer drops. And trust proves vital.

“Just My Luck”

Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Chris Pine, Samaire Armstrong, Faizon Love, Missi Pyle

Ashley is a young professional just out of college. She also happens to be the luckiest woman in the world, who has lived a super-charmed life and has always taken her good luck for granted. When she kisses a handsome stranger at a costume party, Ashley accidentally swaps her good fortune for his horribly bad luck, and her charmed life turns into a living hell.

“Goal!: The Dream Begins”

Starring: Kuno Becker, Stephen Dillane, Alessandro Nivola, Anna Friel

How far would you go to live your dreams? When Santiago Munez is given the chance of a lifetime, he must leave his family, his life in Los Angeles and everything that he knows to travel halfway around the globe to England and into the exciting, fast-paced and glamorous world of international soccer. As an underprivileged Mexican-American immigrant growing up in the poor section of Los Angeles, Santiago seemed destined to follow his father’s path in life — laboring at menial jobs to earn just enough money to support his family. Naturally gifted, his amazing talent on the soccer field was wasted in recreation league games while he could only dream of playing on the world stage of professional soccer. But when a British scout discovers his talent and gets him a tryout with one of England’s premier soccer clubs, Newcastle United, Santiago must choose between his father’s fate and his own destiny. Now alone in a world where soccer is a religion and players are gods, this underdog must prove that he’s got the talent and determination to make it amongst the best in the world.

“Keeping Up With The Steins”

Starring: Jeremy Piven, Garry Marshall, Jami Gertz, Doris Roberts, Daryl Hannah, Cheryl Hines, Larenz Tate, Larry Miller, Richard Benjamin

Like the young Indian braves of long ago, Benjamin Fiedler is about to undergo an initiation rite that will take him from boy to man. But rather than face the perils of the hunt, he must endure something far worse — a Bar Mitzvah in Brentwood, California. It’s not enough that Benjamin must stand in front of a temple full of strangers chanting Hebrew, a language he doesn’t understand. He also must cope with the efforts of his parents, Adam and Joanne, to splurge on a party-to-end-all-parties, a mega-bash where the “Bar” is more important that the Mitzvah and a Jewish Star means Neil Diamond. Above all, the Fiedlers must surpass the “Titanic”-themed Bar Mitzvah given by Adam’s rival agent, Annie Stein. With his circus-sized celebration, Annie has thrown down the gauntlet. For the highly competitive Adam, the war is on. But when Adam’s father Irwin, now a gray-haired hippie, and his spacey younger girlfriend arrive in their broken down camper, the Fiedler’s plans are thrown into disarray. Every family has their own dysfunction and neuroses and the Fiedlers are certainly no exception. Despite this, they ultimately realize that family is the most precious bond that can’t be broken (but it can be bent out of shape at times).